Josh Lyman

Josh Lyman (1961-) was White House Chief of Staff under President Matt Santos from 2007, having formerly served as Deputy Chief of Staff under Josiah Bartlet from 1999 to 2005.

Biography
Josh Lyman was born in Westport, Connecticut in 1961, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, and he graduated from Harvard and Yale as a Fulbright scholar. He became involved in politics like his father, who had worked as a lawyer for Leo McGarry, and he served as chief of staff to Congressman Earl Brennan before becoming a staffer for US Senator John Hoynes. In 1997, he left the popular Hoynes' campaign to join Josiah Bartlet after McGarry took him to one of Bartlet's speeches, and Lyman hired his friend Sam Seaborn to work on Bartlet's campaign as well. Lyman also hired college dropout Donna Moss as his assistant, and the two would have romantic tension for years. Upon Bartlet's victory, he was named Deputy Chief of Staff, serving under Toby Ziegler.

In 1999, Lyman was critically wounded during an assassination attempt on African-American presidential aide Charlie Young, and he experienced PTSD before recovering. He was briefly fired as Deputy Chief of Staff for causing US Senator Chris Carrick to defect to the Republican Party due to Lyman's inability to compromise, but he was later brought back on, and helped Bartlet with defeating Jeff Haffley to win re-election. Lyman would go on to recruit Matt Santos to run for President, and he served as Santos' Chief of Staff after his victory.